1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is generally related to defibrillators, and more particularly relates to managing the costs associated with defibrillators.
2. Description of the Related Art
Sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) is a condition in which the heartbeat stops suddenly and unexpectedly; it is frequently debilitating or fatal. Indeed, SCA is one of the leading causes of death among American adults: it kills approximately 360,000 people a year—an astounding 1000 people a day. Two out of every three deaths caused by SCA happen outside of the hospital. It is unpredictable, and can happen to anyone, anywhere—even to a child, although risk increases with age. Although pre-existing heart disease is a common indicator of cardiac arrest, many patients have never had any heart problems.
SCA is caused by life-threatening abnormalities in the heart's electrical system called “arrhythmias”. The most common arrhythmia is ventricular fibrillation. In this condition, the heart beats too chaotically to be effective in pumping blood to the body and brain. During SCA, the patient first loses his or her pulse, then consciousness, and finally the ability to breathe. Without immediate treatment, SCA is almost always fatal. It is therefore vital that treatment be administered as soon as possible to increase chances of survival. In the initial few minutes of the SCA incident, the probability of survival diminishes by about 10% for every minute.
Responding to an SCA incident usually requires specially trained paramedics and equipment, such as an Automated External Defibrillator (AED). A problem arises, however, in that paramedics may not arrive quickly enough to save the patient. Every minute of delay diminishes the probability of saving a life, and the problem is worse for remote or sparsely inhabited areas.
The non-medical public is slowly starting to appreciate, however, that defibrillators can be purchased and installed in places where many people congregate, or where obtaining emergency services is particularly problematic (e.g. on airplanes). Defibrillators are becoming increasingly installed in many other public and private facilities (e.g. office buildings, shopping malls, and even homes) as well. In addition, recent improvements make certain defibrillators usable by untrained people so that they are readily available in the event of a medical emergency.
Nevertheless, if a defibrillator is actually used in an event (e.g. a medical emergency), the costs of using the defibrillator can be significant. The defibrillator typically needs to be rechecked, for example, and some of its supplies may need to be refurbished, etc. Moreover, data stored in the defibrillator about the event may need to be downloaded, etc., thereby resulting in maintenance costs to the person or organization making the defibrillator available to the public.
A problem arises when a person is perceived undergoing an event, which could be an SCA event, and where there is no duty to the patient from the operator of the defibrillator. Examples of those instances are where a patient collapses on the street, just outside an establishment that is equipped with an AED. In such instances, the entity that owns a defibrillator actually has an economic dis-incentive to providing aid, since the owner may have to incur potentially significant costs as a result. A kind-hearted citizen or organization of limited means might therefore hesitate to offer assistance due to the economic costs of doing so, or become unduly economically burdened after offering assistance. While the patient may be legally obligated to compensate the person providing aid, the patient is in no position to promise to do so or negotiate prices prior to receiving the aid.
Accordingly, it is desirable to formulate systems and methods for mitigating the costs of offering aid to those in need, or at least sharing the costs of such aid across a larger population of contributors. Furthermore, other desirable features and characteristics will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and the foregoing technical field and background.